Sinha hurts head in prison fall

Hazaribagh, June 13: Veteran BJP leader Yashwant Sinha suffered a head injury today when he fell down and hit a wall as the chair he was sitting on suddenly broke at his cell in Hazaribagh central jail.

The former local MP is lodged inside the jail since June 2 in a case of alleged assault of an electricity board official during a BJP agitation against power cuts.

“My father was reading newspaper at his cell (No. 7) around 12.20pm when two legs of the chair gave in. He fell down and dashed his head against the wall. For a moment, he lost consciousness, but soon came around,” said Sinha’s Harvard-educated son Jayant, who was recently elected Hazaribagh MP.

Sinha’s wife Nilima, who rushed to Loknayak Jai Prakash Narayan Central Jail soon after hearing the news, later said that the senior politician was doing fine.

“There is a swelling on his head. Doctors have advised a CT scan. We had earlier requested the jail authorities to change the chair as it had wobbly legs, but they didn’t,” Nilima said.

Jayant did not blame the jail authorities for the mishap, but hit out at the state government for the current situation in Jharkhand that has confined leaders like his father behind bars.

“My father is languishing in jail for issues related to people. The present Jharkhand government is indulging in corruption and denying even basic facilities like power and water to people, not to forget the law and order problems. This government has no right to continue and it’s time for the BJP to go to election with the slogan ‘Aab ki bar yogyasarkar’. Unless you elect a yogya (capable) government, you shall remain a qaidi struggling for the most basic facilities of life,” he told The Telegraph over phone.

Playing on the “qaidi” analogy, he further said the people of Jharkhand were being held captive by the Hemant Soren government.

“Jaisi mere pitaji yahan qaidi hai, waise hi janata bhi is nikkami sarkar ki qaidi hai (Just like my father is a prisoner here, the people are also prisoners of this useless government). My father has been implicated in a false case and sent to jail. The administration has failed to act honestly in this case,” Jayant said.

Sinha had refused to apply for bail, stressing all along that the case against him and other party workers be withdrawn unconditionally. Last week, BJP national president Rajnath Singh had urged him to seek bail and come out of jail. But he politely turned down the suggestion.

State BJP president and Koderma MP Ravindra Rai, who called on Sinha today, said they were working on ways to ensure his release.

On demands from a section of the BJP that Sinha be made the chief minister if the party comes to power in Jharkhand after the Assembly elections scheduled later this year, Jayant said: “At this point, we are fighting for people and nothing else. It is for the BJP’s parliamentary board to decide who will be the chief minister.”